Technical Committee
This event is organized with the essential support of the technical committee members. The Technical Committee is composed of industry specialists within the event topic's area.
Areej Al-Darmi - Chair
Team Leader Prospect Evaluation, Kuwait Oil Company
TBC
Asmaa Awadh AlSaeedi
Geologist I, Kuwait Oil Company
Asma Awad Al-Saeedi is a Geologist I at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), working in the Exploration Group’s Prospect Evaluation I Team. She holds a Geology degree with a minor in Petroleum Geology from Kuwait University and is currently pursuing a master’s in Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences. Asma specializes in Upper Cretaceous and Jurassic carbonate formations, contributing to exploration discoveries and subsurface evaluations. With over two years of experience in both carbonate and clastic reservoirs, she supports both field and office-based geological work. She serves as a board member of the EAGE Local Chapter – Kuwait and a Young Professional Advisor for the 2025 Imperial Barrel Award team. She also completed an AI and data science bootcamp, focusing on its application in geoscience.
Omran Al-Zankawi
Professional Geologist, Kuwait Oil Company
Omran is professional Geologist with 18 years of experience focusing on Field development, working on Clastic reservoirs and Carbonate reservoirs. Handling several projects in regards to reservoir characterization.
Muhammad Yaser
SLB
Yaser is currently working for SLB in their Asset Consulting Services segment in Kuwait. He has 22 years of experience in various roles focused on Reservoir Characterization, Reservoir Petrophysics, Geocellular Modeling and Simulation, Production Enhancement/Optimization and Field Development Planning studies. He holds an M.Sc. in Geophysics from QAU Pakistan and M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt, Scotland.
Dr. Yaqoub AlRefaei
Assistant professor, Kuwait University
Yaqoub Yousef Alrefaei is from the State of Kuwait. He received his B.S in Geology from Kuwait University in 2006 and his Master’s degree in Geology from University of Texas at Arlington in 2011. He worked at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research in the Petroleum Research and Studies Center (PRSC) as a research assistant for two years. He earned a scholarship from Kuwait University to pursue a Master’s and a Ph.D. in the United State of America where he has been a graduate student at University of Texas at Arlington.
Satya Perumalla
Regional Geomechanics Lead, Baker Hughes
Satya Perumalla is working in Oil & Gas Industry in Geomechanics, Geology & Drilling disciplines for over 25 years at different technical and managerial roles, supporting Sub-surface and Engineering interests of various E&P companies in Middle East, Africa and India. He worked with SLB, Shell and British Gas Group for 11 years and then joined Baker Hughes / GMI in Dubai since 2007. Satya worked and supervised various geomechanics consulting projects linking to wellbore stability, pore-pressure prediction, reservoir geomechanics, unconventional reservoirs and Energy Transition.
Jo Garland
Carbonate Sedimentologist, Cambridge Carbonates
Jo is a carbonate sedimentologist with 26 years of industry and consulting experience. She enjoys in the challenges of working complex carbonate systems, with expertise including Palaeozoic carbonates and evaporites (with recent focus on the Zechstein), Tethyan carbonates of the Middle East and North Africa, Mesozoic reservoirs of Mexico, and seismic classification of carbonates. Jo’s passions range widely from working on a regional scale creating and refining palaeogeography maps, to complex reservoir characterisation and evaluation of reservoir quality in carbonates, in both petroleum and geothermal settings.
Dr. SanLinn Ismail Kaka
head, CPG Student Affairs Office, KFUPM
SANLINN I. KAKA earned his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, in 2006. He currently serves as a faculty member and graduate coordinator in the Department of Geosciences at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, where he also heads the CPG Student Affairs Office. His research interests include engineering seismology, reservoir characterization and monitoring, ground motion relationships, and near-surface geophysics. Recently, his work has focused on applications of microseismic monitoring systems—specifically the enhancement, detection, and localization of microseismic events—as well as investigating fracture propagation and the role of pre-existing fractures during multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in shale gas reservoirs. He is also actively engaged in applying machine learning techniques in exploration and production (E&P), with a particular emphasis on reservoir characterization.
Someshwar Chatterjee
Senior Production Geologist and WRFM expert, Shell
Someshwar Chatterjee is an experienced Production Geologist with 19 years of expertise in reservoir modeling, field development, WRFM and Waterflood Management in both carbonate and clastic reservoirs in Shell Global and Petroleum Development of Oman (PDO) as Shell secondee. Currently he is working as Senior Production Geologist and WRFM expert in Shell Kuwait Exploration & Production since 2024. Throughout his professional career across different Shell and non-Shell assets in Asia, Gulf, Europe, and USA region, he admires the professional work culture and personal ethics. He is passionate about coaching and mentoring younger team members. He is married with two kids. As a hobby, he loves to roam around the world to enjoy the cultural diversity.
